


Comfort and Peace

by SophBee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Platonic Cuddling, Reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 15:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7689118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophBee/pseuds/SophBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius gets upset sometimes, and Remus always knows how to make it hurt a little less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort and Peace

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this is a little messy and there's a severe lack of actual plot! Originally, this was just a headcanon sort of thing, which somehow became a mini fic. Oops.

When Sirius Black gets upset, he disappears. He'll quietly answer questions in class, and he'll show up for meals and smile at his friends' antics, but otherwise Sirius is silent, and spends his time curled up with a book, or in a chair sleeping.

The rest of the Marauders, of course, always notice this change in behaviour, but the only one who ever knows what to do with Sirius is Remus.

James will propose elaborate pranks in an effort to put a smile on Sirius' face, or offer Sirius his pudding at dinner. Peter will offer to help Sirius with his homework, or even write his essays for him. It all goes unheeded though, as Sirius turns down the pudding or shows Peter his already completely essay.

Remus, however, can read Sirius' moods better than the weather. Somehow, and nobody really understands how, he knows exactly when Sirius craves affection, and when he wants to be alone. He knows when Sirius is upset because of his family, because of stress, or for no exact reason at all. More often than not, Sirius is the kind of upset that makes him crave affection, which Remus can tell by the way Sirius curls into himself on the sofa by the fire. That's when Remus abandons anything else he may have to do in favour of wrapping a soft blanket around Sirius before wrapping himself around both the blanket and Sirius' slender body. Remus would spend hours at a time sitting with Sirius some days, gently carding his fingers through Sirius' dark hair and rubbing gentle circles on his spine. He asks if Sirius wants to talk about what's troubling him, and receives a shaky no as Sirius twists his body to bury his face in Remus' neck. Remus doesn't mind. He'd do anything for the boy in his arms, and he has never questioned himself about that.

Some people reckon that Remus and Sirius are dating, but the thought has never occurred to either of them, and neither James nor Peter find anything strange in their friends' relationship. This is how Sirius and Remus have always been together, and this is how they will likely continue to be.

Sirius doesn't cry in front of anyone if he can help it, but something about being in Remus' arms and care loosens that part of Sirius' resolve, and he often finds himself sobbing into the taller boy's shoulder when everything is just a bit too much. There's so much expected of Sirius, from both his family and himself, and he doesn't know if he can live up to that. Sirius is expected to get himself a nice girlfriend, get the best marks he can in his classes, and make friends with as many people he can, yet Sirius doesn't want any of that. He wants to live his life how he wants, thank you very much. And that's okay, because Remus believes in him. No matter what goes wrong, Remus always believes in Sirius. He knows this because Remus tells him so, whispering it into Sirius' hair after finding him shaking and upset in the bathroom, or curled up on his bed with the curtains drawn. Sirius has never truly felt love until Remus showed up, and somehow this newfound feeling gives him purpose and hope, which is something he's never had before.

 

Some days, the roles are reversed, and Remus is sad or stressed and Sirius is the one who does his best to help him, but Remus never wallows in his sadness for long, and spending some time alone with Sirius, telling him what's on his mind, is usually enough for Remus to get back to his usual more upbeat self. Sirius, however, finds himself drowning when he's sad. His mind sinks to the very bottom of the dark pool of sadness, and it doesn't take long before Sirius starts to suffocate in it. Remus understands this, or tries to understand whenever he doesn't, and doesn't try to speed the recovery process up. He allows Sirius to be sad for as long as he needs, but makes sure to keep him floating; he doesn't let Sirius drown.

He'd never admit it to anyone, but Sirius' favourite thing in the entire world is when Remus reads to him. When they've spent hours sitting curled up in the common room together, and Sirius has calmed down a little, Remus will summon a book and start to read it aloud in the soft, dulcet manner in which he always speaks. Sirius doesn't even register the words, most of the time. Instead, he focuses on the rise and fall of Remus' voice, the soft round vowels and gentle clicks of harsher letters, and it lulls him into a state of complete calm; a world where nothing matters except the shoulder on which Sirius' head rests, and the words falling from the lips of the warm boy next to him.

If it's later at night, when everyone is either in the common room winding down after a long day, or in their dorms with friends, Remus' reading draws quite a crowd. At first, it's just James and Peter that sit in the armchairs next to the sofa and watch the fire as they listen to Remus reading, but over the course of a few months quite a group built up. Some nights there'll be twenty people lounging on the floor and chairs around the fire, each with their own reasons for needing the comfort of being read to that night. Sirius knows, however, that Remus reads for him primarily, not those scattered around them, and he takes great comfort in that fact. It is this fact that leads Sirius to do something entirely unusual and somewhat surprising, following a particularly harsh full moon.

Sirius always sneaks into the hospital wing at various intervals during the day when Remus has been confined in it's clinical white walls, and often stays the night wrapped up next to his friend, making sure Remus is warm and comfortable and not in pain. On this occasion, however, Sirius shows up earlier than expected, bearing the huge soft blanket that he knows Remus adores, and hiding something else beneath it. Remus smiles wearily as Sirius settles down next to him on the small hospital bed and throws the blanket around both of them. There is a sheepish look on Sirius face, as he produces a small book from under the blanket.

"I thought, maybe, I could read for you? Because I know you love books, and you always read to me..." Suddenly, Sirius has second thoughts. "But if you'd rather I didn't then that's fine, honestly!"

"Sirius," Remus quells his friend with a warm look. "That'd be lovely."

And so, Sirius reads until Remus falls asleep on his shoulder. His voice isn't as soft or soothing as Remus' is, but nevertheless it quickly lulls Remus into a peaceful state, as this is Sirius and that's more than enough for him. And if Sirius stumbles over a few words or stops every so often to gently adjust the blanket or to study a particularly difficult sentence, Remus isn't going to complain; it's incredibly endearing.


End file.
